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Teaching Text: Hebrews 12:1–3
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
Hebrews: A new and Living Way
Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
Sermon Summary
“I remember sitting at the old Fairway grocery in Red Hook, telling Allison: I want to write a letter to our closest friends for why we are staying.”
That’s where this week’s message started — a train ride back from a concert in 2015, word arriving that close friends who’d helped plant the church were leaving New York. It wasn’t the only exit. 2017 brought a painful reorganization. 2018 brought tragedy — children in the congregation dying suddenly. 2020 brought a pandemic and a racial reckoning. 2023 brought the loss of four staff members. Each departure understandable. Maybe even right, for them.
There is a compounding joy in staying — in continuing, in not giving up. Hebrews 12 calls us to run our race the same way: remembering we’re not alone, throwing off what entangles us, and fixing our eyes on Jesus.
Eighteen weeks in Hebrews, since Easter. The letter has shown us Jesus as messenger, as fulfillment of the law, as the true tabernacle — pulling every thread of the story together. Now, after walking through the hall of faith, the author turns and says: now you.
Know you are not alone. “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.” The enemy loves to isolate — to convince you that no one else has faced what you’re facing. But a great cloud of witnesses has endured every shade of pain, disappointment, and grief before you. They would tell you it’s worth it.
Be ruthless with what hinders your freedom. “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” Not just the obvious sins — the addiction, the temper, the envy — but the hindrances too. The wasted time. The good things used to avoid your calling. The excuses built to dodge the growth that’s supposed to be painful. Sin that we repeatedly choose drains our life.
Fix the gaze of your soul on Jesus. “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” He is the Author and Finisher — the place we’re going and the way we get there. He endured the cross for the joy set before Him: the joy of completing our redemption, the joy of bringing us into the family.
We’re being invited into a kingdom that cannot be shaken, into friendship with our King, into a family with all the redeemed — and we get glimpses of it now. In baptisms. In meal trains. In back-to-school drives. In sunlight on the water at Jacob Riis.
Don’t give up. Don’t let go. Don’t turn back. Sometimes the very best thing you can do is keep your eyes on Jesus and not give up.
Direct Quotes
“A long obedience in the same direction.”
— Eugene Peterson
“Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.”
— A saint of a previous generation
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
— Quoted from 1 Corinthians,
Three Questions for Personal Application
Where do you feel most alone in your struggle right now? Sit with the truth that a great cloud of witnesses has walked through this same shade of pain before you. Ask God to help you feel less isolated in whatever you’re carrying, and consider who in your own life might be part of that cloud for you.
What is weighing you down or costing you the freedom Christ has given you? Not just the obvious sin, but the hindrances — the distractions, the excuses, the good things you use to avoid growth. Ask God to show you honestly what needs to be thrown off.
Where has the gaze of your soul been fixed lately? Notice what you’ve actually been looking at — circumstances, comparison, fear — versus Jesus. Ask Him to draw your eyes back to Him in your imagination, your prayer, and your reading of Scripture this week.
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
— Hebrews 12:1–2
